CHAPTER 26

The GreatWest and the AgriculturalRevolution, 1865-1896

PARTI: REVIEWING THE CHAPTER A. CHECKLIST OF LEARNING OBJECTIVES
you should be able to After masteringthis chapter, l. Z. 3. 4. 5. 6. describe the natureof the culturalconflictsand battles that accompanied the white American migration into the GreatPlainsand the Far West. explainthe development of federalpolicy towardsNative Americans in the latenineteenth century. analyze the brief flowering and declineof the cattleand mining frontiers. explainthe impactof the closingof the frontier,andthe long-term significance of the frontierfor Americanhistory. describe the revolutionary changes in farmingon the GreatPlains. describethe economicforcesthat drove farmersinto debt, and describehow the Grange,the protest Farmers'Alliances, andthe PopulistParfyorganizedto their oppression.

B. GLOSSARY
To build your social science vocabulary,familiarizeyourself with the following terms: I. nomadic (nomad) A way of life characterized by frequentmovementfrom placeto placefor economicsustenance. ". . . the Sioux transformed themselves from foot-traveling,crop-growing villagersto wide-ranging nomadictraders. . . ." (p. 591) immunity Freedom or exemption from someimposition. ". . . [the] militia massacred . . . four hundred Indianswho apparently thoughtthey had beenpromised immunity." (p. 593) reservation Public landsdesignated for use by Indians."The vanquished Indianswere finally ghettoized on reservations. ." (p. 595) ward Someone cons,idered incompetent to managehis or her own affairs and thereforeplaced underthe legal guardianship ofanother personor group.". . . there [they had] to eke out a sullen existence as wardsof the government."(p. 595) probationary Concerninga period of testingor trial, after which a decisionis made basedon performance. "The probationary period was later extended. . . ." (p.597) folklore The commontraditionsand storiesof a people."ThesebowleggedKnights of the Saddle . . . becamepart of American folklore." (p. 602) irrigation Watering land artificially, through canals,pipes,or othermeans.". . . irrigation projects. . . caused the 'Great American Desert' to bloom. . . ." (p. 604)

2. 3. 4.

5. 6.
1

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Chapter 26:The Great West andtheAgricultural Revolution, 1g65-1996 8. 9'

237

meridian In geography. anyof the imaginarylinesof longitude runningnorthand southon the globe."...settlers...rashlypushed...beyondthel00thmeridian...."(p.604) contiguous Joinedtogether by commonborders. "Only Oklahoma, New Mexico,and Arizona remained to be lifted into statehood from contiguous territoryon the mainland of North America.,' (p. 606)

10. safetyvalve Anything,suchas the Americanfrontier,that allegedly serves as a necessary outlet for built-uppressure, energy, and so on. "But the 'safety-valve' theorydoeshavesomevalidity.',

(p.607)

I l.

loanshark A person who lendsmoneyat an exorbitant or illegalrateof interest. "The [farmers] ...criedou t despair in against the loansharks. . . ." (p. 610)

12. serfdom The feudalconditionof beingpermanently boundto landownedby someone else.... . . the farmers were aboutto sink into a status suggesting Old World serfdom."(p. 6 | 0) 13. mumbo jumbo Mysterious and unintelligible wordsor behavior. "Kelley,a Mason, evenfound farmersreceptive to his mumbojumbo of passwords and secret rituals.. . ." (p. 6l l) 14' prophet A person believed to speakwith divine poweror special gifts, sometimes including 'Numerous predicting the future(hence any specially talented or eloquent advocate of a cause). fiery prophets leaptforwardto trumpetthe Populistcause." (p. 613) 15. citadel A fortress occupying a commanding height." . . . join handswith urbanworkers.and mounta successful attackon the northeastern citadels of power."(p. 6la)

PART ll: CHECKING YOURPROGRESS A. True-False

Wherethe statement is true,circleT; whereit is false,circleF. 'O l. F Culturalconflictsand population lossto disease weakened the PlainsIndians'ability to resistwhite encroachment onto their lands.

2. 3.

rc

The PlainsIndianswere ratherquickly and easilydefeated by the U.S. Army. A crucialfactorin defeating the Indians was the destruction of the buffalo.a vital source offood and othersupplies.

4 r 0
5.
6.

e
T

o
0

Humanitarian reformers respected the Indians'traditional cultureand tried to preserve theirtribalway of Iife. Individualgold and silver minersprovedunableto compete with largemining corporations and trainedengineers. During the peakyearsof the Long Drive,the cattlemen's prosperity depended on driving largebeefherdsgreatdistances to railroadterminalpoints. More families acquiredland underthe Homestead Act than from the statesand private owners. Although very few city dwellersever migratedwest to take up farming, the frontier "safety valve" did have somepositiveeffectson eastern workers. The farmerswho settledthe Great Plainswere usually single-cropproducersdependent on unstable distantmarkets for their livelihoods.

8. 9.

(D

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I
\

238

'1865-1896 Revolution, WestandtheAgricultural 26:TheGreat Chapter enoughgrain on problemfacingthe farmerswas their inabilityto produce The greatest westernprairieslandsthat were more difficult to cultivate. the problemof the Farmers'Alliancewas their inabilityto overcome A fundamental white and blackfarmersin the South. racialdivisionbetween that farmersand the Populists'belief strengthened crisisof the 1890s The economic political oppression. and economic workersshouldform an allianceagainst industrial to raiseenoughfundsto combat politicalmanager Mark Hannastruggled Republican pro-silver campaign. Bryan's William Jennings enough he was unableto persuade Bryan's populist campaignfailed partly because join cause. rural-based his essentially to workers urban domination, in an era markedby Republican McKinley's victory in 1896ushered party organization, and the fading of the money issuein American politics. weakened

1 0, .o
t t . (f I n \-/ l2 lT) V F

c
t5.
l.

B. MultipleChoice
letter. Selectthe bestanswerand circle the corresponding throughtheir effectiveuse of to white expansion WesternIndiansoffered strongresistance artillery and infantry tactics. a. in the West. Mexicanresisters with remaining b. their alliance c. nighttimeand winter campaigning. rifles and horses. (t) repeating of century because in the late nineteenth )fi'tertribalwarfareamong PlainsIndians increased over all othergroups. to gain dominance of the Chippewas the attempt a. differentgroupswithin a singlereservation. b. the confiningof several for the rapidlydwindlinghuntinggrounds. growing competition G\ d1 the rise of the "Ghost Dance" among someIndian groups' attemptto confine Indiansto certainareasthrough formal treatieswas The federalgovernment's largely ineffectivebecause the nomadicPlainsIndians largely rejectedthe ideaof formal authorityand definedterritory. F\ refusedto ratiff treatiessignedwith the Indians. hJ Congress the treatiesmadeno effectiveprovisionsfor enforcement. c. d. the largesttribe, the Sioux, refusedto sign any treatieswith the whitesThe warfarethat led up to the Battle of the Little Big Horn was set off by

2.

3.

4.

Indian territory of Oklahoma. white intrusioninto the previouslyreserved a. crews. railroad construction Indian attackson the transcontinental b. Black Hills. (e\ of gold in the sacred afterthe discovery white intrusions of the secondTreaty of Fort Laramie. a conflict over the interpretation Y was finallv subduedbecause 5 . Indian resistance was boughtoff. most of the effectiveIndian leadership a. I n\ of the buffalo and the Indians' way of life. led to the destruction the railroad of the coming \-;, mostIndianslostthe will to resist. of guerrillawarfare. effectivetechniques d . the army developed Indians away from their traditionalvaluesand customs government to force attempted federal 6 . The by instructingthem in white farming methods. A. creatinga network of children's boardingschoolsand white "field matrons." =/ at white colleges. for Indian students scholarships c. establishing

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Chapter 26:TheGreat WestandtheAgricultural Revolution, 186!1896

d. developing programs of bilingualeducation in reservation schools. Both the mining and cattlefrontiers saw

239

an increase of ethnicand classconflict. a lossof economic viability afteran initial boom. a turn from large-scale investment to the individualentrepreneur. a movement from individualoperations to large-scale corporate businesses. 8 . The problemof developing agriculture in the arid Westwas solvedmost successfully throueh a. concentrating agriculture in the more fertilemountain valleys. b. the useof small-scale family farms ratherthan large"bonanza"farms. the useof irrigation from dammedwestem rivers. @ d. the turn to desert cropslike olivesand dates. 9. The "safetyvalve" theory of the frontier holds that a. Americans were ableto divertthe mostviolentelements of the population to the West. b. the conflictbetween farmersand ranchers was relievedby the Homestead Act. (6) unemployed city dwellerscould move westand thus relievelaborconflict in the East. politicalmovements X suchasthe Populists providedrelief for the mostserious grievances of westemfarmers. 1 0 . Which one of thesefactorsdid nol makethe trans-Mississippi Westa uniquepartof the American frontierexperience?

a. b. c.

The largenumbers of Indians, Hispanics, and Asian Americans in the region A problem The of applying new technologies in a hostile wilderness U c. The scaleand severityof environmental challenges in an arid environment d. The largerole of the federalgovernment in economic and socialdevelopment il. By the 1880s, mostwestern farmersfacedhardtimesbecause free landwas no longeravailable underthe Homestead Act. they wereunableto increase grainproduction to keepup with demand. they were being strangled by excessive federalregulationof agriculture. they wereforcedto sell their grainat low pricesin a depressed world market. Which of the following was not amongthepoliticalgoalsadvocated by the PopulistParfyin the l 890s? Nationalizing the railroad, telegraph, and telephone Creation of a nationalsystem of unemployment insurance and old-agepensions @ c. A graduated incometax d. Freeand unlimitedcoinage of silvermoney t 3 . The U.S. government's response to the Pullmanstrikearoused greatangerfrom organized labor because it seemed to represent "government by injunction"designed to destroylaborunions. @ b. it broke apartthe growing alliancebefweenurban workersand farmers. c. it undermined efforts to organizefederalworkers like thosein the postalservice. d. it turnedtheir most effective leader,EugeneV. Debs, into a cautiousconservative. 1 4 . William Jennings Bryangainedthe Democratic nomination in 1896because he stronsly advocated ^\ unlimitedcoinage of silver in orderto inflatecuffency. eJ b. highertariffs in order to protectthe American farmer. government c. ownershipof the railroadsand the telegraphsystem. d. a coalition betweenwhite and black farmersin the Southand Midwest. r 5 . McKinley defeated Bryan primarily because he was able to win the supportof a. white southernfarmers. eastern wage earners and city dwellers. a. a. b. c.

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240

186F1896 WestandtheAgricultural Revolution, Chapter 26:TheGreat

c. d.

urbanand ruralblacks. Laborites. former Populistsand Greenback

C. ldentification
Supply the correct identificationfor eachnumbereddescription.

l.
2. 3.
4.

9,'ctl)"

Major northernPlainsIndian nation that fought and eventuallylost a bitter war the U.S. A*y, 1876-1877 against Indian tribe led by Geronimothat carriedout someof the last Southwestern fighting againstwhite conquest

fe>rfs'uc-{c;t>

Indianswere eventuallyconfined under Generallypoor areaswhere vanquished federalcontrol Indian religiousmovement,originatingout of the sacredSun Dancethat the to stampout in 1890 federalgovernmentaftempted to dissolvetribal landholdingand establishIndians Federallaw that attempted as individual farmers

6LJA,,
C"q*"Lt,/r
L,.,r D.,,re

6.

to Nevada Huge silver and gold depositthat broughtwealth and statehood Generalterm for the herdingof cattlefrom the grassyptainsto the railroad Nebraska, and Wyoming terminalsof Kansas,

8. |L*thC,4.-l

generous farmers butalso landopportunities to poorer r'"o"r"l lawthatoffered

providedthe unscrupulous with opportunities for hoaxesand fraud Improvedtype of fencing that enabledfarmersto encloseland on the treeless plains Former"lndian Territory" where "sooners"tried to get thejump on "boomers" for settlement in 1889 when it was opened

s. bnb.&.J"t

il.

and Third political party that emergedin the 1890sto expressrural grievances mount major attackson the Democratsand Republicans Popularpamphletwritten by William Hope Harvey that portrayedpro-silver triumphing over the traditionalviews of bankersand economics arguments professors

n.Grn>E*^o;[ . ------;J^*l
r:. P41qq5L L

federal intervention andthejailing laborconflictin Chicago thatbrought ",nr, of union leaderEugeneV. Debs

that brought him the r+6ag-r{-6,&t conventionspeechby a young pro-silveradvocate Spectacular tS. 'iqi J.1l

presidential in | 896 nomination Democratic

clbt .1:

Popularterm for thosewho favoredthe "statusquo" in metal money and opposed the pro-silverBryanitesin l gg6

Places, and Evenb D. MatchingPeople,

Match the person,place,or eventin the left column with the properdescriptionin the right column by insertinsthe correctletteron the blank line.

r. N

SandCreek,Colorado Little Big Horn

a.

Ohioindustrialist andorganizer of victory Bryan in McKinley's over the election of 1896

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Chapter 26:The Great West and theAgricultural Revolution, 186L1896 241

a J.

SittingBull Chief Joseph Geronimo HelenHunt Jackson JohnWesleyPowell William Hope Harvey Eugene V. Debs B. Weaver James Mary E. Lease Mark Hanna

b.

4. 5. 6.
1

B _6
T F c K
D
L.

Leaderof the Nez Percdtribe who conducted a brilliantbut unsuccessful military campaign in 1877 Author of the popularpro-silver pamphlet "Coin'sFinancial School" FormerCivil War general and Granger who ran as the Greenback Labor party candidate for president in 1880 Leaderof the Siouxdurinewarsof 1876-1877 Explorerand geologist who warned that traditional agriculture could not westof the l00dmeridian succeed

c.

d.

8. 9. t0. It. 12.

D'

Leaderof the Apaches of Arizonain their warfarewith the whites Siteof Indianmassacre by militia forces in I 864 Massachusetts writer whose books aroused sympathyfor the plight of the Native Americans Siteof major U.S. Army defeatin the SiouxWar of 1816-1877 Railwayunion leader who converted to jail time during socialism while serving the Pullmanstrike EloquentKansas Populistwho urged farmersto "raise lesscorn and more hell"

h.
t.

J.

k.

l.

E. PuttingThingsin Order
Pul the following eventsin correctorder by numberingthem from I to 5. t. 3 A sharpeconomicdepression leadsto a major railroadstrike and the intervention of federaltroops in Chicago. The violation of agreements with the Dakota Sioux leadsto a major Indian war and a military disasterfor the U.S. cavalry. A federallaw grants I 60 acresof land to farmersat token prices,thus encouraging the rapid settlement of the Great West. The U.S. CensusBureaudeclares that there is no longera clear line of frontier settlement, endinga formative chapterof American history. Despitea fervent campaignby their charismatic young champion,pro-silver Democratslosea pivotal electionto "Gold Bug" Republicans.

2. 3.
4.

5
A

5.

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242

Chapter 26:TheGreat WestandtheAgricultural 1865-1896 Revolution,

I
I

F. Matching Cause and Effect

Match the historical causein the left columnwith the propereffectin the right columnby writing the correctletteron the blank line. Cause Effect
a.

The encroachment of white settlement and the violationof treaties with Indians Railroadbuilding,disease, andthe destruction of the buffalo Reformers'attemptsto make Native Americansconform to white ways The comingof big-business mining and stock-raising to the West "Dry farming," barbedwire, and irrigation The passing ofthe frontierof l 890 The growingeconomic specialization of westernfarmers The rise of the PopulistParty in the early l 890s The economic depression that beganin I 893 The retum of prosperityafter | 897 and new gold discoveries in Alaska. SouthAfrica. and elsewhere

protestsand strikes Caused widespread like the one against the Pullman Companyin Chicago Threatened the two-party domination of Americanpoliticsby the Republicans and Democrats Creatednew psychologicaland problems for a nation economic accustomed to a boundlessly open West Endedthe romantic,colorful era of the miners'and the cattlem:n'sfrontier DecimatedIndian populationsand hastened their defeatat the handsof advancing whites Effectively endedthe free-silver agitationand the dominationof the moneyquestion in Americanpolitics

2 . 8 3. -L

b.

c.

4 . 0

d.

5.
6. 7. 8. 9.

tl
L

D'

Made settlersvulnerableto vast industrialand market forcesbevond their control Made it possibleto farm the dry, treeless areasof the Great Plainsand the West Furtherundermined Native Americans' traditionaltribal culture and morale Led to nearly constantwarfarewith PlainsIndiansfrom 1868to about 1890

10. _,E_

h.

G DevelopingHistoricalSkills Comparing Election Maps

you to seewhat political changes have occurred Comparingmapsof two consecutive electionsenables in a relatively brief historicalperiod.The electionmap on p.628 showsthe vote by county; the one on p. 637 showsthe vote by state.Keep that differencein mind as you answerthe following questions: I. Six westernstateshad significantvotesfor the PopulistWeaver in 1892.Who carriedthem in I 896?

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